​Yes, that’s right folks. After four crimson-tinted years, Crimson Clocks have decided that our springs are worn out and we will tick no more. We started as five, playing our first gig at the Roadhouse in Birmingham in June 2012, and whittled quickly down to four. Last summer drummer Steve decided to retire, leaving us as a three-piece. Now other commitments mean that those of us remaining realise we can’t give Clocks the justice it deserves.

We have one final gig remaining, and we intend to do it the justice it deserves. We’ll be performing at the Crewe Steampunk Convivial, at the Masquerade Ball on Sunday 29th May. We have in store for you a new(ish) waltz track, as many of the old favourites as we can cram into our time, and maybe the odd bit of free stuff…. Tickets are available, and we’d love to see as many people who can make it.

An 'interesting' debate about steampunk music has arisen today - what it is, who it covers. Crimson Clocks never called ourselves a steampunk band, though we’ve mostly played at steampunk events. Part of the difficulty we’ve had in getting more mainstream gigs has been a difficulty in describing our musical genre, never mind the instruments (not every rock venue is used to mic-ing up an oboe!). And in turn, this is because we don’t have a defined ‘sound’ in the way that many bands do – we’ve always played what we wanted. From the reggae ‘Crossroads’ to the tango that is ‘Limbo’, to ‘Shadow’ which we tend to describe as ‘klezmer-metal’, each tune is different. This is partly because we’ve grown up listening to different types of music, and partly because new songs tend to pop pretty much fully formed into my head (alright, I confess, I wrote much of what you’ve heard…). We pride ourselves that we’ve been a bit different, and that we’ve enjoyed what we did. ‘Red Violin’ still sends shivers down my spine when we perform it well (and not just because I can’t always remember the words!). And our cover of Hawkwind’s ‘Master of the Universe’ was a lot of fun!

Thanks to all of you who have supported us, we’re glad you came along for the ride! Join us at Crewe if you can. It’s been emotional…

So what’s next? Musically, I intend to continue alone (sniff), probably initially as a recording artist, and see where that leads. As I said, those songs won’t stop popping (there’s three sat beside my sofa at the moment waiting to be properly written up!). Performing may be trickier; I’m not sure the idea of a steampunk one-person-band with cymbals on my knees is that appealing. This is, of course, the age of the backing track, so we will see what develops.​I’ll still be around on the #GASP radio show for the time being as well – so plenty of opportunity to listen to other people’s music as well. Don’t forget you can join in on the facebook event or on twitter every Thurs 8-11pmUK, as well as listening via BLAST1386 or the tune-in page for BLAST.

And of course, there’s still the writing, which is my first and foremost activity. The third volume of The Automata Wars (TAW3 for short) is well underway, undergoing a first full edit. It won’t be ready for a while yet, though, as it’s grown into a mahoosive volume closing in on 290,ooo words. Several more edits will be required to see if it can be reduced at all, but I blame certain pesky characters who, once created, refuse to act in the way they should and go off and do their own things. Three of the characters in this book are based on people who proof-read volume 2 for me – it was part of their reward – and they’ve grown into quite integral parts of the story. I wouldn’t be too surprised if Friffy the thief doesn’t become a runaway favourite character.

In the meantime, I have a flash fiction story in the recently published Steam Flashes charity anthology for New Futures Nepal, as you might already know; and I also have a longer story due to be published later this year in a new collection, Airships and Automata. You can read more about that, and an associated kickstarter, on the page of the publisher, Cogsmith Publications.

Out and about, I’ll be at Walsall Writers Group this coming Thursday (12 May), with a workshop/ presentation on steampunk writing; and I’ll be at Southcart Books in Walsall on Sat 21 May with a brief reading as part of their birthday celebrations. So this is not the end… my plans for world domination remain undiminished. Mwah ha ha ha… (ahem).Keep in touch, and I’ll update with NOO MOOSIC info as soon as I can.

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I'm a writer of steampunk/ fantasy fiction, singer/musician and writer at LM Cooke Music, singer in the parody band Mediaeval Biaetches, occasional historian, and co-presenter of the Gothic Alternative Steampunk and Progressive web radio show. Here I will ramble vaguely about stuff. Friends, countrymen, and people who aren't countrymen, lend me your ears...